17July 2018 VaJra Bodhi Sea

白山黑水育奇英

White Mountains andBlack Waters

Nurture A Rare Talent

101. Propagating the Dharma in Jiangxi

In May of the same year (1948), after the conclusion of the spring precepts transmission ceremony at Nanhua Monastery, the Venerable Master accepted an invitation by the elder layperson Mr. Huang Zhuzai of the Nancheng County in Jiangxi province to lecture on the Amitabha Sutra during the summer. The audience numbered over 100 people. Due to the sincerity of the laypeople in seeking the Dharma, there was a miraculous response.

【In the Venerable Master’s Own Words】In 1948, I was responsible for lighting and incense at the Hall of

the Fifth Patriarch. I met an elderly layperson named Huang Zhuzai who came from Jiangxi province. When we first met, he felt great affinity towards me so he invited me to lecture on the Amitabha Sutra in his hometown. We exchanged letters and settled on June 10th being the start date of the lecture. The laypeople there did not know much about the Buddhadharma. Normally we would call a session, a “7-Day Buddha Recitation,” but they called it a “Ten Thousand Buddhas Recitation.” Since I got distracted on my way there, I did not arrive at the previously agreed upon date to practice this “Ten-Thousand Buddhas Recitation” with them.

The participants in the Ten Thousand Buddhas recitation were longing for my arrival. Everyday the elderly layperson Huang asked Guanyin Bodhisattva by drawing divination sticks, “When is the Dharma Master supposed to show up?” At that time there was a female layperson who gained spiritual power while reciting the Buddha’s name, so she could tell the future. She told the elderly Huang, “You

101. 江西弘法

同年1948年五月，上人在南華寺春戒圓滿

後，夏天就接受江西省南城縣黃鑄哉老居士

邀請，前往講授《阿彌陀經》。聽眾有一百

多人，由於居士們誠心聞法，其間發生了不

可思議的感應……

【上人自述】

民國37年（西元1948年），我那時候在南

華寺五祖殿當香燈。從江西來了一位老居士

叫黃鑄哉，他在南華寺一見著我，覺得很有

緣，於是請我到江西省預備去講《阿彌陀

經》。在彼此通信訂好日期，六月初十我到

江西給他們講經。他們不太懂佛法，本來是

打佛七，他們叫萬佛七；我因為在路上耽誤

了很多時間，沒來得及依照那個日子和他們

打萬佛七。

這些參加打萬佛七的人，天天盼我去，黃

老居士一天到晚就求籤問觀音菩薩：「這個

法師什麼時候可以來呀？」當時有一個女居

士在念佛的時候，開了智慧，知道未來的事

情，就告訴這個老居士說：「你不要求籤

了，法師要在什麼時候才能到這兒來，萬佛

七的期間他不會來了。我們預備再打一個地

宣公上人事蹟編輯委員會新編2009年

鄭耿琳 等人 英譯

A new edition by the Committee for the Publication of Venerable Master Hsuan Hua’s Biography

Translated into English by Genglin Zheng and others

(continued)

（續）

宣化上人事蹟（中國篇） events in the Life of the venerabLe master: the Period in china人 物 誌

BIOGRAPHIES

18 金剛菩提海 二Ｏ一八年七月

待續 To be continued

藏七，那時候這位法師就會來了。」她

這樣說，果然我沒有去；我後來才到，

講《阿彌陀經》。八月中旬，我又回南

華寺。

【後記】有一位居士叫萬果樂，身上

著魔已有十多年。多次請僧人、道士念

經作法，並拜〈大悲懺〉、〈梁皇寶

懺〉，又放〈瑜伽燄口施食〉等，還是

未見效果。奇怪的是，萬果樂去聽上人

講述《阿彌陀經》後，身上的魔障竟然

消失了。還有一位徐姓居士患半身不

遂，在聽過上人講經後，病也痊癒了。

【附錄】上人在南城開講《阿彌陀

經》之開示：

念佛法門，又名淨土法門。因此法

門，人人可入，個個能修。三根普攝，

利鈍兼收，故稱為方便中之方便，捷徑

中之捷徑；對於我輩末法眾生，甚為逗

機。但能念佛，終必往生，華開見佛，

悟無生忍，永得不退；設若不然，我下

地獄。昨天有人請示，念佛時妄想太

多，如何制止？且不要管妄想多少，但

只一心念佛。語云：

清珠投於濁水，濁水不得不清；

念佛入於亂心，亂心不得不伏。

故持名即是制妄徹底妙法，更何須頭

上安頭，向外馳求乎﹖

don’t need to keep on drawing the divination sticks anymore. The Dharma Master will arrive at such and such date. He will not come during our Ten Thousand Buddhas recitation session. We should hold an Earth Store recitation session following this and he will show up then.” So that was what she said and it turned out to be true. I only arrived later to lecture on the Amitabha Sutra. In the middle of August, I returned to Nanhua Monastery.

[Postscript] A layperson named Wan Guole was possessed by demons for over ten years. Many

Buddhist monks and Daoist priests were sought to cure him by reciting Sutras and performing rituals. In addition, he bowed the Great Compassion Repentance and the Emperor Liang’s Jeweled Repentance, and initiated the Yoga Ulka-mukha Offering Ceremony, but all to no avail. Miraculously after Wan Guole attended the Venerable Master’s lecture on the Amitabha Sutra, the demons possessing his body disappeared. Moreover, a layperson Xu who suffered from paralysis also recovered after listening to the Venerable Master’s lecture.

[Commentary] The Venerable Master’s Lecture on Amitabha Sutra at Nancheng:

The Dharma-door of reciting Buddha’s name is also called the Pure-land dharma-door. This Dharma could be practiced by anyone regardless of one’s aptitude and experience. That is why this dharma is the most expedient among the expedients, the shortest path among the short paths. Especially for living beings in this Dharma-ending age, it is the most suitable method. Just by reciting the Buddha’s name, one is certain to be reborn in a lotus within the Land of Bliss. When the lotus blossoms, one will meet the Buddha, attain the enlightened state of mind in which no mental objects arise, and never retreat in one’s cultivation. If this is not the case, I shall fall into the hells.

Yesterday someone asked about how to stop the false thoughts while reciting the Buddha’s name. To this, I say, “Pay no attention to scattered thoughts that distract your mind. Just focus on the Buddha’s name.” It is said that

When the pristine pearl is cast in muddy water,The muddy water naturally becomes clean and pure.Reciting the Buddha’s name, even with a muddled mind,Shall calm and focus the mind without one’s trying.

Therefore, you should know that reciting Buddha’s name is the ultimate way to extinguish false thoughts. No need to “place a head on top of another” and seek answers outside one’s own mind.